Final Destination
by JamesXorcist
Summary: Since there wasn't any dialogue between the main characters inside Ultimecias Castle I thought I'd add some. Expect some bonding, some fights between the characters and of course the battles. Please R and R. Chapter 3 up.
1. Chapter 1: Bonding Session

Chapter 1: Bonding Session

Squall turned to his comrades. Quistis, Zell, Selphie, Rinoa and Irvine. This was it. Their journey was coming to an end. Their enemy awaited them inside the castle. Once they had dealt with her, what would happen to them? How would they get back? Would they be stuck in the future forever? No. Odine would have thought of something. The question was, were they powerful enough to defeat Ultimecia? All of the training they had endured, was it going to be enough? Were they prepared? Either way, they had no choice. Squall nodded to his comrades, his head stinging from so many thoughts. He turned back to the castle. It loomed over the SeeD's. It was like something out of a nightmare. Squall took a deep breath, and pushed open the doors.

A damp, cold wind gushed through the crack of the doors and washed over him like a shower of freezing water. He cringed at the stench. What was he going to find behind this door? A pile of decaying corpses? That's what it certainly smelt like.

Squall released a sigh of relief. No corpses in sight. It was a large, dark, gloomy looking room. A staircase stood in the middle leading up to a large door. Maybe that's where they should start.

Squall moved further into the castle to allow his comrades room to enter.

Irvine appeared from the doors. He quickly covered his nose.

"Ew, what's that stink?" he choked.

Squall crossed his arms. "She obviously doesn't look after the place."

"You can say that again."

"Where are the others?"

"There checking their equipment. Their being a little over cautious." Irvine explained gripping hold of his gun.

"Can't blame them. Look at this place. Who knows what's lurking around here, besides Ultimecia of course." Just as he said this, a loud rumbling noise erupted from the top of the staircase. Squall held his Gunblade at the ready. Was this Ultimecia? He wasn't ready yet.

Irvine pointed his gun to the top of the staircase. By the look on his face, he was thinking the same as Squall.

Suddenly, to their horror, the Castle doors slammed shut. Squall heard his comrades banging at the doors. Squall darted over and pulled at the door ring.

'Dammit' he gave up slamming his fist into the door.

"Leave it Squall. The doors didn't close by accident" Irvine said not taking his eyes from the staircase door.

Squall turned back to the staircase. The temperature seemed to have lowered in a second. Squalls misty breath evaporated in front of him.

"Ahhh!"

Squall looked over at Irvine who was now on his knees crying in pain. But before he could ask his friend what was the matter, Squall was now in the same position. A stinging sensation had spread through his head.

'What's…Happening? Dream World? Now?'

And suddenly, it was gone. Squall, breathing heavily, got to his feet. He looked over at Irvine who was also on his feet. Squall felt winded, exactly like the feeling you get when somebody punches you in the stomach.

"What the hell was that?" Irvine gasped.

"I'm not sure. Let's try curing ourselves that might help."

Irvine nodded in agreement.

Squall reached into his pocket. But, there was nothing there. He checked his other pocket. Nothing.

"What the…?" He heard Irvine mutter. "I can't use any magic, it's all gone!"

"My potions have all disappeared too." Squall tried to use his magic too, but nothing worked.

"Yoooo!!!" Zells voice bellowed as he continued to slam the door with his fist.

'Forgot about them' Squall sighed. "We can't open the doors; you'll have to find another way in!"

"Oh man!"

He heard Zell trudge away from the doors cursing.

"So Squall" Irvine started. "What's happened to us?"

'How should I know?' He thought scratching his head. "We haven't got a chance of defeating her with only our weapons. Maybe there's a way we can get them back. I doubt she'll just hand them to us on a plate."

Just then, something came crashing through the staircase doors. It landed to the floor almost knocking the two of them from their feet. It was large purple creature on all fours with a huge head. It was one of the ugliest things Squall had laid eyes on. And he slayed ugly looking creatures for a living.

'This must be one of Ultimecias minions' Squall thought.

"We gotta beat this thing with only our weapons, d'ya think we can mange that?" Irvine called from across the room.

"Sure. It doesn't look too tough."

"FACE MY WRATH FOR SEEKING THY SEALED POWER!" It bellowed right into Squalls face. He almost choked from its breath.

It charged forward ramming hard into Squall sending him soaring across the room thumping shoulder first into the cold castle wall. He slid to the floor, holding his bruised shoulder. Irvine released a shot from his gun which pierced through the creatures hide. It bellowed once again turning its attention to Irvine. He continued firing blowing holes through every part of its body. Squall switched his Gunblade to his left hand, his right arm immobile for the moment. He darted forward launching into the air. Te monster was too busy being blown to pieces to notice Squall. He pulled back the Gunblade with his weaker arm before thrusting forward slicing through its bulky neck. Blue blood spurted from the cut splattering Squall. He crashed to the floor, the moist goo heaving him down. He brushed his eyes with his blood-free right sleeve.

"I told you it'd be easy" he uttered. He struggled to his feet, spitting some blood from his mouth. 'It knows how to make a mess.'

"Uhhh Squall, I don't think it's over yet" Irvine said staring worried faced up at the creature.

Squall moved his eyes over to the monsters neck. It seemed to have grown another head. It was smaller and thinner in size. Squall thought it was quite comical. Then he noticed a ring of ice surround Irvine's boots.

"Irvine! Watch out!" Squall dove towards his friend pushing him out of the way as a couple chunks of ice exploded from the ground. Squall cleaved through it with his blade. He crashed to the floor breathless.

Irvine stared at Squall shocked that he had just risked his life to save him. He shook his head almost forgetting about the menacing creature lurking over them. He stood up and aimed his gun. "Let's see if you can sprout another head" he smirked pulling the trigger.

Blue blood flung through the air and showered over the comrades. The creature's body began to evaporate before them into a purple mist until it was no more.

Squall rested his head against the wall and shut his eyes, exhausted.

Irvine flopped down beside his friend and mimicked him.

They were both bathing in the monsters blood but they didn't care right now. Never had a beast been so easy to defeat but had been so hard work to destroy.

Squall suddenly felt a burning sensation on his palm. He glanced at it. It was sparkling like a crystal surface. He held it out in front of him releasing a Firaga blast, taking a chunk out of the staircase banister. "Well our magic is back."

Irvine also fired a Firaga at the banister. "Good, good. I wonder where the others are. D'ya think they'll be alright?"

"Maybe" Squall muttered in his usual serious tone.

"That's not very reassuring." Irvine scratched the back of his head. "Thanks for helping me before."

"I couldn't let a comrade get injured. We need everybody in tip top condition for the battle with Ultimecia. There maybe more of those creatures lurking around. We should be prepared."

"Oh…So you didn't help me because we're friends?" Irvine shook his head at his work-aholic friend.

"Friend?" Squall glanced at Irvine.

"What? You don't consider me a friend?" Irvine spoke, his feelings obviously hurt.

"Yeah…I guess it's not the same as the others though."

"Is that 'cause you can't remember me from the orphanage days? I was there, you may not remember, but I was there, you know I was there, just 'cause you can't think of anything specific."

Squall didn't say anything. Irvine was his friend. But not his closest. Maybe he was right. He became instantly closer with the rest of the gang when he found out about the orphanage. All except Irvine.

"How about this…?" Irvine started. "When we were little you always carried a tiny First Aid box around everywhere. You were always cautious. Plus you didn't trust Matron to help you. That's when you started to distance yourself; it was just after Sis had left. Anyway, one day I'd fallen down the steps, you know, the ones that led to the beach. You found me and gave me a plaster. You'd never given anyone one before. You were always afraid you'd run out. And of course like I said you didn't trust anybody else. You gave me one because I was hurt and I was your friend. I suppose, I was the only one that that wanted to understand how much you were missing Sis. I guess you could say we were best friends at the orphanage. Anyway, that showed you cared. Well it did to me anyway."

Squall grinned. "I remember all of that; you sure have a good memory. I do consider you a friend Irvine; you didn't have to tell me any of that. I'm glad you did though."

"Hey!"

Squall and Irvine glanced over at the castle doors. Zell, Selphie, Quistis and Rinoa were stood there. The two of them got to their feet.

"Finally!" Zell grinned. "What happened to you two?"

"Just a messy case with one of Ultimecias little friends" Irvine explained.

Selphie poked Irvine in the stomach where a large portion of the slime was. "Ewwwww" she cringed.

"Thank God you're alright" Rinoa smiled.

"Yes, but we better not stay here too long or there may be another attack." Quistis spoke.

Squall nodded. They continued forward. Squall stood back from the group a little with Irvine. "Thanks Irvine."

Irvine nodded. He waited until he was out of sight before sniggering to himself. "Maybe I should have mentioned it was HE who pushed me down the steps." He laughed a little too loud before hurrying after his friends.


	2. Chapter 2: The Terror in the Cellar

Chapter 2: The Terror in the Cellar

Squall wondered if it had been a good idea to leave Irvine alone with Quistis and Selphie. He could imagine Irvine being too busy flirting with one of the girls to notice himself being consumed by a Behemoth.

The comrades had split into two parties. Irvine's party was to keep watch at the castle doors for any of Ultimecias minions that may decide to follow Squall's party up the staircase to the Grand Hall.

Zell closed the doors behind him once they had entered the hall.

Squall turned to his friend with a slight grin on his face. "Zell, if anything does follow us they would just ram the door down. Not knock and politely ask if they can come in."

Rinoa giggled.

"Uh…Good point" Zell laughed.

"Now where?" asked Rinoa.

Squall examined the area. In front of him was a huge, rusty chandelier. Beyond that was another door.

'_We have to cross the chandelier to reach the door' _Squall eyed up the chain that was barely holding it up. '_Maybe I should cross myself to see if it's stable.'_ He turned to Zell and Rinoa "It doesn't look safe. I'll cross by myself and then if I don't plummet to my death then you two can follow me."

"No way man!" Zell expressed. "We're going together. If we die, we die together."

"Whatever, do what you want" Squall rolled his eyes.

The friends made their way forward onto the chandelier. First Squall, then Zell and finally Rinoa.

"There we go, we're safe!" Zell cheered.

As if he had just jinxed their luck, the Chandelier came hurtling down before coming to a sharp halt on the floor. The three of them flew from it landing in a heap. They got to their feet and noticed the chandelier ascend back from where it came. The hall was just like the rest of the castle. Cold, damp and dark. The sooner they were out of this castle the better, thought Squall.

"Hmmm, there must be a way to keep it aloft" Squall spoke while brushing his clothes down from the dust.

"Hey Squall" Rinoa piped up. She was kneeling down examining a large trap door.

He nodded.

Zell and Squall clutched hold of each side of the door and heaved it open. A huge gust of cold win wafted over them making them shiver.

"Be careful, who knows what could be hanging around down here" Squall warned.

They made their way down a rickety staircase that led to a kind of cellar. Squall gripped hold of his Gunblade just in case something sprang from the dark to say hello.

Zell clutched hold of the banister and leaned over a little peering down. It creaked a little under his weight. "It doesn't look like there's anything here."

Squall released the grip on his blade. "Alright, let's search elsewhere."

He motioned for his friends to leave, but suddenly came to a halt when they spotted a shadow to their right move quickly across the moss covered stone wall.

"What was that?" Rinoa gulped.

Squall pulled his Gunblade from its pouch and held it out in front. There was something here. He knew it. But it was very difficult to see. Suddenly, as he thought this, something came soaring upwards from the shadows. It was a stick-thin dragon like creature, with three points protruding from its body, and curling towards, and slightly around its small head. It hovered in front of them, baring its needle like teeth threateningly. Squall didn't like the idea of being shredded to bits by those.

"FACE MY WRATH FOR SEEKING THY SEALED POWER!" Tri-Point screeched furiously before hovering slightly higher into the air. Its three points started to spark with electricity before concentrating onto the single point onto its nose.

"Duck!" Squall ordered.

The three comrades hit the deck as a huge jolt of electricity ripped through the staircase. Squall was blinded by the light. He wasn't sure what was happening. The next thing he knew he was falling, rolling down the stairs before landing face first onto the dirty cellar floor. He glanced up in time to spot the staircase split in half, the stairs crashing to the floor throwing up dust all over him. He coughed and spluttered while climbing to his feet. Where were his friends? Where was the creature?

"Ahhh!"

He heard somebody squeal from up above. It was Zell, and to Squalls shock, he was on top of the creature, gripping hold of the two points curling over its head. His face was full of fright.

"Zell! What the hell are you doing!?" he called up to him.

"Well I'm not here for fun!" he wailed as the creature took a sharp turn almost throwing him off.

Squall glanced over at Rinoa, who had just appeared from the rubble massaging her head.

"Rinoa! You're alright!" he smiled at her, and she returned it. "Zell's in trouble. I have an idea. I'll climb to the top of what ever is left of the staircase. You ready a spell to fire at the monster. I'll grab him as soon as he passes and then you fire. I'll give you the signal."

He didn't await Rinoa's answer as he was already making his way up grabbing hold of the staircase and pulling himself up until he was on top. It creaked under his weight. He was hoping it would be strong enough to hold him. He clutched hold of the banister, what was left of it, to keep balance. Zell was still barely hanging on as the creature became increasingly annoyed. Squall nodded over at Rinoa who began focusing a spell. The creature turned slightly and was now heading over to Squall from his right. He held out his hand switching his vision from Zell to Rinoa. He spotted a huge chunk of ice hovering ready to strike the creature. It was getting nearer. Closer…Closer…and the creature soared past him. Squall grabbed a handful of Zells collar and heaved him onto the chunk of stairs. The blizzard spell connected, cracking down onto its skull. It swerved uncontrollably through the air. Squall wasted no time. He leapt from the staircase and in a second of time was charging forward, his Gunblade held behind his back. He stuck it into the floor, stroking it though, shattering the floor. The Tri-Point was in range. He couldn't miss now. This was it. He pulled his blade forward and upwards with all of his might, chopping away at the creature's scaly skin. A huge wave of energy exploded upwards from the ground, connecting with it, sending it crashing into the cellar wall, a huge explosion following taking a large chunk with it.

Squall landed on his knees, breathless. Rinoa glided over to him pulling him to his feet.

"Thanks Squall!" Zell called from above.

He just nodded, feeling slightly proud of himself. He scanned the cellar, shocked at how much damage had been done. The staircase that was once there, lying in a pile on the floor and a huge hole in the wall. He immediately look upwards as he heard a creak coming from the chunk of staircase that Zell was stood upon. And it soon began to crumble.

"Oh crap!" Zell chirped before lunging out of sight back into the Grand Hall as the staircase fell away beneath him.

'_Damn'_ Squall slapped his forehead. '_That was our way out.'_

Zell poked his head back into the cellar looking slightly guilty.

"It wasn't your fault Zell" Rinoa exclaimed, noticing the look on his face. "Was it Squall?"

Squall responded by rolling his eyes.

"Was it, _Squall_" Rinoa jabbed him in the ribs.

"…No" he murmured.

"Don't worry, I'll get you out! I'll go find a rope or something."

"I dunno…" Squall wasn't sure if he trusted Zell. They'd probably be stuck down here forever if he had to rely on Zell to help.

"C'mon Squall, trust me! I'll help you out!" he said looking slightly deflated.

"Like you helped out Rinoa?" Squall remembered back to when he had ordered Zell to rescue Rinoa back when Galbadia Garden had invaded Balamb. He had failed so it was he who had to do it.

Zell sighed his face drooping. "Let me redeem myself."

Rinoa gave Squall a stern stare and finally gave in. "Alright."

"Thanks!" and with that, he disappeared from sight.

A few minutes had passed and Zell still wasn't back. Squall was trying to draw some magic from a draw point he had discovered, but to no avail. Drawing was obviously one of the abilities that had been taken from them and they hadn't received it back. Squall was thinking that there GF's may be the power restored; he wasn't going to dare try and find out though. A GF attack here would probably make the whole cellar collapse.

He glanced up at Rinoa who seemed to be examining her right hand. "What's wrong?"

"I think…Your ring has gotten scratched" she uttered knowing Squall would react.

"What!?"

She spun around on her heels with a grin. "Only joking."

He sighed. "Don't do that."

"When we finally battle Ultimecia…" Rinoa murmured looking down at her feet. Her expression was now serious. "What…What if one of us die's? I…I couldn't take it. Going on with our lives, if we do manage to defeat her I mean, without...Quistis, Zell, Selphie, Irvine…Or…You…"

Squall lowered his head. He tried to imagine life without his friends or Rinoa. A huge hole was carved out from the pit of his stomach. He felt sick. He wouldn't be able take it either. He asked himself again, was he strong enough to defeat her? Were they all strong enough? Of course they were. After everything they had been through, they had to be.

"Don't think like that" he placed his hands on her shoulders, but she didn't look up. "If we think like that, then it'll come true. If we deny our own strength, then we won't be strong enough. She won't be thinking like that. She'll be thinking that it will be a walk in the park. That her powers will be too much for us. She won't be worried at all. Well, we'll have to show her that she shouldn't take us likely. We're all stronger then we seem. Emotionally and Physically. We won't lose, I promise."

She finally looked up, a smile on her face and a gleam in her eye. She hugged him.

"Cough"

The two of them glanced up and spotted Zell grinning at them.

'_Finally.'_

He disappeared again, before remerging with a long, thick purple object. He flung it down the trap door and it sickeningly slapped against the wall.

"What is that?" Rinoa asked giving it a poke.

"It's a Behemoth tail!" he huffed and puffed as he tried to keep hold of it.

"Ew, I'm not climbing up that" Rinoa chocked.

"You gotta', it took me ages to get. I had to kill the monster and then get the tail and it was one hell of a mess." He gasped.

She sighed before doing as she was told.

"Good job Zell" Squall murmured, hoping there may be a chance he wouldn't hear him. He couldn't stand it if Zell started bragging about this.

"Thanks!" he grinned stupidly, his face now a bright red, clearly breathless.

Squall sighed to himself. What could be awaiting them next? He told Rinoa that they would defeat Ultimecia. But he didn't mention anything about her minions.


	3. Chapter 3: Krystal Khaos

Chapter 3: Krystal Khaos

"Why me?" Zell groaned.

"I thought you wanted me to trust you more. This isn't exactly the hardest job" Squall said.

After the party had reassembled in the hall, Squall had discovered a switch a few inches away from the trap door. He figured that it must keep the Chandelier aloft. And he had ordered Zell to keep it depressed.

"Fine" Zell finally gave in.

Squall led his comrades through the corridor to the left. Statues of demons loomed over them from above, barely visible from the shadows as they made their way through and into the main hall back where they had started. They continued up the stairs, their weapons held at the ready. They passed through the door and were now at the chandelier. Squall pushed his foot down. It didn't budge. Squall nodded to his comrades and made his way across followed by Quistis.

"Hey Squall!" he heard Zell call up to him from below.

He peered down and saw Zell grinning up at him and waving. He noticed he had taken his foot off of the switch. Squall switched his view to Selphie, Rinoa and Irvine who were all cluttered on the chandelier.

"Wait!" he shouted, but it was too late. The chandelier went hurtling down before crashing to the floor.

"Ooops" Zell murmured.

Squall slapped his forehead in annoyance.

"Sorry!" he called up.

"Don't worry about it. The rest of you follow behind us, me and Quistis will go on ahead."

They pushed through the door in front before shutting it behind them. A cooling breeze swept past them as they stepped out onto the balcony. The castle walls shrouded in shadows loomed over them.

'_Is this it?_' thought Squall.

Quistis rested her arms against the balcony, and stared out at the view, her eyes shimmering with the Moon.

"There doesn't seem to be anything here, we should go" Squall said.

"This place reminds me of the 'Secret Area'" Quistis sighed glancing over at Squall. "You know; in the Training Centre."

Squall stood beside Quistis and scanned the area. '_The view isn't as nice.' _Squall thought his eyes moving over the moss smothering the castle walls.

"So, are you prepared to listen now?"

Squall raised his eyebrow at the instructor.

"When we talked, in the training centre, you weren't prepared to listen."

"Oh…" he uttered. He reminisced about that night. He cringed. Was that really how he used to be? If so, he never wanted to be that person again.

"I was…a bit of a…"

"Jerk…?" Quistis chuckled.

He smiled. That wasn't how he would have put it, but close enough.

Suddenly, he was sapped from his thoughts as he heard a scratching noise from above. He glanced up the castle wall in front. Something was falling towards them.

"Quistis, look out!" Squall grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her towards him as a huge crystalline figure plummeted onto the balcony.

Quistis clutched hold of her whip before dashing forward. She flung it around Kryta's neck and climbed up onto the balcony's ledge. She tugged it back holding it in place, allowing Squall to strike several times with his Gunblade taking a few chunks out of its hard surface. Krysta expressed his rage by firing a beam of energy into Squalls stomach winding him. Krysta flung its head forward throwing Quistis over its self and crashing into Squall.

Ultimecias minion glared at them with its beady little eyes. It began to gather energy in its hands and it grew at a steady pace.

The two comrades could feel the power pulsing from its readying attack. This wasn't going to be good. They both charged forward but were quickly knocked back by what seemed to be an invisible force field. They couldn't do a thing right now.

"It should be vulnerable as it's about to attack. We'll need an incredible amount of power to strike it at that point that would hopefully finish it off, maybe then we could survive this attack" Squall explained. "You take cover it while I build that energy up."

Quistis nodded, darting over to the side and out of sight.

He raised his Gunblade over his head, both of his hands clasped around it. Flashes of energy engulfed it and a column of light lifted from his blade and shot into the sky, splitting the clouds in its path. This was doing no favours to his already damaged shoulder.

Both Squall's and Krysta's attacks were at the ready. Their body's vibrated as this immense power overtook them.

'_This is it' _thought Squall as he glanced up at the radiant pillar of light towering over him. '_I'm gonna have a bad back tomorrow.'_

He used all of his strength to bring his attack down upon the creature as it also released its spell. There was a mass explosion of energy that engulfed the area. The flashes of light blinded Squall as all of the pressure on his arms seized. He fell onto his backside still unable to see what was taking place. Was he being disintegrated at that moment? Finally, everything died down and he could see again. The balcony had split in two, and behind it swirling around in mid-air was Krysta. Its body began to crumble and its remains disappeared out of sight. He had won.

He clasped hold of his throbbing shoulder as he got to his feet.

He noticed Quistis emerge from the rubble to his left looking relieved that Squall was still in one piece. She jogged over flinging her arms around his neck almost knocking him from his feet.

'_What the?'_

She released her grasp and smiled up at his shocked face, "thank God you're alright."

Squall raised his eyebrow.

"What? Shouldn't I be happy that you're alive?"

"I suppose, you're like a sister to me anyway."

"Don't say that." She rolled her eyes at being called sister.

"Ok Sis."

"Stop!"

"…"

Quistis chuckled.

"Let's go, the others will be worried" Squall said motioning towards the door.

There was no time to rest; things were only going to get tougher from here.


End file.
